Anxiety attack at the top of the mountain.

Anxiety attacks are very real and can be extremely upsetting.

The view is rather nice up here 😍

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There is nothing that tells me that an anxiety attack is coming, it can seem so random and from absolutely nothing and yet my body has decided that something is going on.

For anyone that has had an anxiety attack, you will know that they are very real and that what happens can feel like your life is going to end.

Symptoms of anxiety include:

• worry and apprehension
• restlessness
• sleep problems
• difficulty concentrating
• irritability
• sadness
• feeling pressure and hurried

Physical symptoms include:

• changes in heart rate
• tension in the head or neck
• headache
• nausea or diarrhea
• sweating
• dry mouth
• tightness in the throat and difficulty breathing
• trembling or shaking
• feeling faint

When some of these symptoms start, it is very scary and I often feel like I am going to die and it can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack.

Yesterday I went to the Yorkshire Dales so that I was able to get out of the city and into the greenery and because this helps me manage my mental illness and also helps me because I am an empath.

Since I started to reduce my sugar intake and try and eat far better, some of my symptoms have reduced and I have certainly felt that the sugar was contributing to inflammation in my chest.

At the start of yesterday, I was almost pain free and felt as good as it normally gets for me and I decided to run two of the largest peaks and It would be around 13 miles of tough terrain.

I climbed and went over the lager peak and was absolutely fine, even if my quad muscles were crying after going downhill for a few miles.

The second peak is not as high, however the path is not as good and you end up scrambling on hands and knees to get to the top.

I was struggling part of the way up, I did not feel any anxiety or pain though until I was about 50 metres from the top.

I have a heart rate monitor and one that is pretty accurate and gives a good indication with me and I was averaging around 145 beats per minute near the top and then it started to go down and hit as low as 62 beats per minute.

This may have been an anomaly as I have had it before with blackspots and the watch tends to decide what it wants, it still concerned me though and I don’t know if that triggered the anxiety attack.

I stopped and tried to ground myself and move the focus away from what my body was doing and so that It might reduce the symptoms.

My chest was hurting and my breathing was a little harder and I started to have difficult thoughts of what was happening.

I have learned to ask for help when these things happen and can usually say something to someone and yet this time as I saw people coming past me, I said nothing and tried to sit it out.

After around 15 minutes I decided that I would continue to the top and then try and get down as far as I could with the hope that things would have calmed down.

I do believe in the universe and that it presents things or people to you when you require them and on the way down where I had seen nobody else, I saw two ladies walking with dogs.

I started to talk to them and said that I had an anxiety attack near the top and one of them said that she was a nurse and was talking about grounding techniques.

I walked with them for about an mile and was very thankful for this lady listening to me, having someone there who will show empathy and help rather than mock or judge is a life saver for me.

I made it down and back to my car and I had calmed down a lot more and often when I drive, maybe because it is a distraction, I was okay.

Anxiety and anxiety attacks are very real and if you think that a person is having one, please stop and help them.

Some tips to help a person who is having an anxiety attack:

Helping Someone During a Panic Attack

1. Stay with the person and keep calm.
2. Offer medicine if the person usually takes it during an attack.
3. Don’t make assumptions about what the person needs. Ask.
4. Speak to the person in short, simple sentences.
5. Be predictable. …
6. Help slow the person’s breathing by breathing with him or her or by counting slowly to 10.